Kogi civil servant arrested and charged for exposing the fact that Governor Bello still lives in Abuja

KOGI State civil servant Johnson Musa has been arraigned before a Lokoja Chief Magistrates’ Court for exposing the fact that Governor Yahaya Bello lives in a plum Abuja residence and not in the state.

In January last year, Governor Bello was sworn-in and assumed office but despite being the constitutionally recognised administrator of the state, he has continued to reside in Abuja. Governor Bello used to be a member of the House of Representative and resided in Abuja before his election and this has not changed since he assumed office.

Mr Musa, 32, an indigene of Dekina Local Government Area of the state, was alleged to have taken aerial pictures of the governor’s Abuja residence with a drone camera and posted them on social media. He was said to have posted the pictures with the caption - This building is owned by an individual in Kogi, where hunger is the first name, in less than one year.

In response, the Kogi State government had him arrested and prosecuting counsel, Mohammed Abaji, a senior legal officer with the state ministry of justice, said Mr Musa was picked up on Thursday by men of the Department of State Services (DSS). He added that Mr Musa's action had put the governor and his family under threat and potential harm to their property.

Mr Abaji urged the court to take cognisance of the offence of cyberstalking against the accused. Mr Musa pleaded not guilty to the offence and his counsel, Williams Aliwo of Crystal Chambers, orally applied for his bail in line with section 36(5) of the constitution and section 341(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

In his submission, Mr Aliwo submitted that any order to remand the accused in prison custody would amount to punishing him ahead of the proof of his guilt, adding that the accused would not jump bail or try to escape justice if the bail conditions were granted. However, the bail application was vehemently opposed by Mr Abaji on the grounds that an investigation into the matter was ongoing aside from the fact that the penalty attached to the offence is 10 years’ imprisonment or a minimum fine of N25m.

In his ruling, the chief magistrate Alhassan Husaini, said by virtue of Section 36(5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, the presumption of innocence of the accused was constitutionally guaranteed. Magistrate Husaini granted the accused bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties in like sum, adding that the sureties must be resident within the jurisdiction of the court.

To allay the fears of the prosecution counsel over the inconclusive investigation, he ordered that a register of attendance be opened at the DSS office for the accused to report on Monday and Thursday. Magistrate Husaini then adjourned the case to August 17.